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Monday, May 14, 2012

District of Pi Pizzeria

We first wrote about District of Pi last April when we tried the mobile version, Pi on Wheels. We were impressed by the deep dish pizza from the truck and eagerly anticipating the opening of the restaurant in Penn Quarter.

We finally got around to trying the non-mobile version of Pi and were equally pleased. We started the meal with an unhealthy, yet delicious, BLT salad featuring romaine, red onions, pepperoncini, crispy bacon, cherry tomatoes, parmesan cheese, and peppercorn ranch dressing.

Though Pi offers thin crust pizza, we came for the deep dish since it's not as easy to get in DC. Pictured below is the small Kirkwood (mozzarella, meatballs, red peppers, basil). We were impressed with how Pi manages to make a crisp deep dish crust without a hint of grease. It's like a taste and texture hybrid of a pie crust, cracker, and cake. Like all respectable Chicago-style pies, the cheese is tucked underneath the layer of tomato sauce. The pizza didn't skimp on toppings (or underthings?) as there were large chunks of sausage and peppers throughout.

While we went old-school slumber party style and ordered pizza and soda, Pi has an impressive beer selection as well. It would be a fun place to gather with a group. You can even invite your really loud friend because the noise level in Pi is stadium-loud.

Second Thoughts from B

I remember fondly the days of Domino's Pizza, 2-liter bottles of Coke, and a brand new Nintendo system. I'm talking about the old school 8-bit NES. Duck Hunt, Legend of Zelda, Mike Tyson's Punchout, and of course, Super Mario Bros. I'm sure other generations have equally fond memories of the early Atari games or the next generation of Nintendo that had controllers with so many buttons it looked like something from NASA.

Regardless, there's something child-like about pizza and soda. Being the "kids" that we are, J and I occasionally crave the food that fueled all of those 11 year olds in sleeping bags who played video games until 3am (sorry to all those parents who endured sleepless nights - but seriously, what were you thinking when you agreed to host such a party?).

District of Pi was able to recreate those happy memories. Let me be clear, this is not to say their pizza is Domino's-like. Rather, the energy in the room (it was filled with hoards of teenage tourists), along with the familiar and comforting flavors were exactly what we needed. The brick walls and open spaces may have easily reminded me of Chicago but the deep dish pizza did not. It wasn't something that will make a city famous, inspire cookbooks, or cause culinary experts to fawn over. It was, however, filled with happy memories, and on this night, that was exactly what the Dr. (Mario?) ordered.

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